Meeting
by theboywiththebread
Summary: China was more than prepared for the meeting, but he wasn't prepared for this peculiar feeling concerning Russia — and he had no idea what do to about it. Oneshot. Russia/China.


**Author's note: It's not often that you read a RoChu fic in which China is the one who takes the initiative and makes the first move. Having said that, what you are about to read is one of those fics.**

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><p>China had spent much of the day preparing for his meeting with Russia. When his northern neighbour had called and asked if they could meet at China's house, just the two of them, China had figured that whatever it was Russia wanted to discuss must be very important — why else would he schedule a meeting at such short notice?<p>

For the past hour or so, China had been cooking for the two of them, since Russia was supposed to arrive at about lunchtime and having a meeting on an empty stomach was no fun for anyone. Now, as the deliciously ready-to-be-eaten meal sat on the coffee table in the living room, China set about cleaning up the room. It was actually pretty tidy already, but there were a few things lying around that probably shouldn't have been — one cannot hold a serious meeting while several adorable panda plushies watch the proceedings. China scooped the panda toys up in his arms, marvelling once more at how cute they were and how lucky he was to have such wonderful animals in his country, and headed off to his bedroom to put them away.

He had only just walked out of the living room when someone or something grabbed him from behind, causing him to give a startled cry and drop his pandas.

"WHAT THE HELL?" China yelled, breaking free from the intruder's grasp and preparing to beat the him or her senseless with the first object he could grab, even if that object was a toy panda.

"Privet!" came a cheerful voice from behind him, and China turned around to find that the intruder was none other than Russia.

"Russia? How did you get in here?" asked China, a lot calmer now that he knew that the person in his house was someone that he actually knew and had been expecting.

"Well, the door was unlocked, so I just walked in," said Russia.

China would have said something about it being polite to knock before barging into other people's houses, but he knew the other well enough to know that his lecture would have no effect on Russia.

"Don't sneak up on me like that! I nearly had a heart attack!" was what he said instead.

"I thought you were expecting me," said Russia.

"I was, but I wasn't expecting you to grab me like that," said China.

"It was supposed to be a hug," said Russia.

"Oh, well… it was kind of a shock, especially since I couldn't actually see you — I mean, it could have been anyone at all!" said China.

"Hmmm," said Russia, "well, since you know it's me now, can we have a proper hug?"

"I suppose," said China.

The words had barely left his mouth before Russia's arms were around him and his head was resting against the taller nation's chest, reminding China of just how big the difference in height between the two of them was. It was actually quite nice to have someone holding him like that… it was really nice, actually…

_What sort of thoughts are those?_

China felt his face flush, and as soon as Russia let go of him, China dropped to his knees and busied himself picking up the panda toys that he had dropped. He kept his head down and hoped that the other wouldn't notice that he was blushing.

"I have to go and put these away, so perhaps you'd like to wait for me in the living room? I've made us some food and you can start eating without me if you want," he stammered, before scurrying off to the bedroom with his pandas clutched against his chest.

China leaned against his bedroom door and waited for his thoughts and his breathing to calm down. He tried to convince himself that he had only enjoyed Russia's hug because the two of them were, well, friends, and friends often enjoy doing friendly things such as hugging. However, as soon as he started remembering how Russia's arms had felt around him and how he had felt the other's heart beating through his thick winter coat, China felt his face going red again.

He bit his lip and willed himself to stop thinking about it. It didn't mean anything at all, and even if it did, which it didn't, there was no need to give it any more thought until after the meeting was over and Russia was gone.

China pushed all thoughts about Russia to the back of his mind, chucked the pandas onto the bed and went back into the living room. Of course, not thinking about Russia would be kind of difficult whilst they were having a meeting.

China sat down on the sofa, as far as possible from Russia, but then realized that it looked like he was trying to avoid the other and so scooted closer. Russia seemed to take it as a sign that he wanted them to sit very close together, and moved over so that he was sitting right next to China — so close that their legs were touching.

"I cooked us some food so if you're hungry, you can have said," China said, gesturing at the food on the table.

Before Russia could reply, China grabbed a plate and handed it to him. "Try it."

Moving back and forth to grab Russia some food and then more for himself allowed China to reposition himself so he wasn't so near the other. China didn't usually mind such things, but today he was confused and didn't know what to feel and really didn't need Russia's closeness clouding up his thoughts.

"So," said China, "why exactly did you call for this meeting in the first place?"

Russia smiled. "No reason, I just thought it would be nice for us to get together and talk."

"Oh," said China. He supposed it was good that the meeting wasn't taking place because of some serious trouble taking place, but he was also fairly nervous and it probably wasn't a good idea to be having a meeting-that-wasn't-really-a-meeting in his current frame of mind — especially not with Russia, the cause of his confusion.

"Mmmmm, China, your noodles taste really good," said Russia.

China knew that he was actually referring to the food, but he couldn't help his cheeks going red at the comment. It was all getting too much for him — the hug, the closeness, Russia innocently praising the food he had prepared in a manner that had some unfortunate implications. China was a strong, powerful nation who had existed for thousands of years, and he most certainly did not blush and hide his face in his hands just because of some words and touches that didn't meant anything to him or to Russia or to anyone at all.

He also happened to be pretty damn good at lying to himself.

"Are you okay, China?" Russia asked, noticing that China was behaving rather strangely.

"I'm fine! I just remembered about the thing in the other room. Excuse me while I go and check on it," said China, not even pausing to look at the confused look on Russia's face before ducking out of the room.

Out in the hallway, he resisted the urge to hit his head against the wall in frustration. He couldn't keep leaving the room every few minutes — if he couldn't stand to be in the company of a fellow nation for more than a couple of moments, then he was beyond screwed.

He'd have to do something — but what? He looked at the wall, wondering if he could smack his head against it hard enough to make him forget how he was feeling. Perhaps the door would be better — the doorknob looked pretty hard, but he might crack his skull open on it and he certainly didn't want that. So if the solution to his predicament wasn't head trauma, then what was it?

China supposed that he could tell Russia what he was feeling. What was he feeling? Confusion, mostly, but _I'm confused_ wouldn't solve anything. What were his true feelings? Love? Lust? Attraction? _Something like that_, China reluctantly admitted to himself. Was he supposed to walk back into the living room and say _you're sexy, I think I like you a bit too much and I'm still really confused_? Okay, maybe not that exactly, but something like it. Because he did like Russia, a lot. The realization had been a long time coming.

He could do it, he could say it. China took a deep breath and opened the living room door.

"Did you deal with the thing?" Russia asked when China entered the room.

_I lied, there is no thing. The truth is, I really like you_, was what he was supposed to say. What he actually said was "yes, I did. The thing is perfectly fine."

"That's good," said Russia.

China sat down on the sofa and curled his legs up beneath him. Half of him was cursing himself for being a coward and not telling the truth, but the other half of him was reassuring himself that he had done the right thing — if Russia felt the same way about him, surely he would have said something by now.

"Are you okay, China? You seem very distant today," said Russia.

China hesitated for a moment. Then, without thinking about the consequences or debating whether or not he should do it, he leaned over to gently place a kiss on Russia's lips.

The bigger nation laughed.

"Don't laugh at me!" China said, growing pink-cheeked and flustered.

"But you're so cute, China, especially when you blush like that," said Russia, touching China's warm cheek with his gloved hand.

"I'm not cute!" China protested.

"But you are!" said Russia. "I've been wanting to do this—" he softly kissed China's forehead "—for a while."

China looked up into Russia's eyes — they were a brilliant shade of purple. China had often noticed how pretty they were, but he had never really given them much thought.

"I really like your eyes," he whispered.

"I really like you," said Russia.

China smiled. "I really like you too."

Russia grinned and pulled the smaller nation onto his lap, wrapping him in a warm embrace.

"I'm so glad that my cute little China feels that way about me!" he exclaimed.

"I'm not cute! And I'm not little!" said China.

"Da, I think you are both of those things. Little China is adorable," said Russia, pressing his forehead against China's and letting his hands rest on the smaller man's hips.

"Stop calling me that," China said, before shutting Russia up with another kiss.

China's lips parted and he felt the other's tongue exploring his mouth and entwining with his own. He eventually broke away, gasping for air.

"I'm very glad I decide we should have this meeting," said Russia.

"So am I," China panted, resting his head on Russia's shoulder, "it's the best meeting I've ever had."


End file.
